Nathalea Sky is a 28-year-old CASA mentor and Young Parent Leader in New York City. The mother of six children, two of whom are disabled, she calls on her lived experience with public assistance and her five years in foster care to advocate for improvements in the child welfare system. 

Nathalea advocates with CSSP Brighter Futures Workgroup (an initiative of the Center of the Study of Social Policy), Young Parents United (YUP!), and Court Appointed Special Advocates CASA-NYC. She is proud of training the New York City Administration for Children’s Services and provider agencies’ staff on the Know Your Rights Guide with CSSP, a resource hub created by young parents in NYC with foster care experience. She has been instrumental in including teenage fathers in co-parenting. As a Community Advisor to Mount Sinai School of Medicine, she helps select primary care residents for the internal medicine and pediatrics program. 

Nathalea frequently publishes on her advocacy interests on non-profit websites, such as The Imprint Youth & Family News, Young United Parents, and Youth Communication.